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TURTLE SHELL RATTLES 
AND OTHER IMPLEMENTS 



INDIAN GRAVES 

AT ATHENS, PA. 



BY 

Christopher Wren. 

1908. 



Reprinted from "Proceedings and Collections" of the Wyoming '""TT } 
Historical and Geological Society, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. V 0 



EI?? 
.If 



Gift 

Mr. John Hyde 
MAR 1 6 1925 



\ 

on 




No. I. INDIAN TURTLE SHELL RATTLE. 

From the Collections of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. 
(Reduced one-half.) 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES 

AND OTHER IMPLEMENTS FROM INDIAN GRAVES, 
AT ATHENS, PENN'A. 

A PAPER PREPARED FOR THIS SOCIETY, NOVEMBER, 1908. 

BY CHRISTOPHER WREN, 
Curator of Archaeology. 



In the month of April, 1883, Dr. Harrison Wright and 
Samuel F. Wadhams, Esq., members of the Wyoming His- 
torical and Geological Society, supervised and directed the 
opening of several Indian graves on the property of Mr. 
Millard P. Murray, at Athens, Bradford County, Penna., 
from which they secured a number of human skulls, several 
specimens of aboriginal pottery and other implements, most 
of which are in the collections of the Wyoming Historical 
and Geological Society. 

Athens, Pa., is a town of 3,000 inhabitants, situated about 
ninety- three miles north of Wyoming Valley, by the various 
bends and turns of the Susquehanna River. By the early 
white settlers it was called Tioga Point, and Morgan gives 
the name of the Indian village which was located there as 
Tayoga. 

In a paper read before this Society on May 4, 1883, Dr. 
Wright gave a description of the excavations made and the 
articles found. This is published in full, with illustrations, 
in "Proceedings and Collections" of the Society, Volume II, 
pp. 55-67, 1885. He speaks of some of the articles found in a 
very general way, while of others he gives a detailed de- 
scription. 

The object of this paper is to give a somewhat fuller ac- 
count than has heretofore been given of two perforated tur- 
tle shells, a bone comb and a coiled copper ornament found 
in the Athens graves. 



4 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



Dr. Wright describes these articles thus : "To the left of 
the skull [in the first grave opened] and in contact with it 
was a turtle shell, the upper part perforated with four holes, 
two in front and two back ; and the plastron with four holes, 
two front and two back, was found, and in it were four 
small silicious pebbles about the size and shape of marrow- 
fat peas. About two inches to the right of the skull another, 
though smaller, turtle shell, similarly perforated, the upper 
shell having ten holes, two before, two behind and six down 
the middle, the plastron having seven holes, two before and 
five behind, was found, and in it were also four small peb- 
bles of about the same size and shape as those found in the 
shell to the left of the skull. While an examination of 
these two turtle shells leaves little doubt that they were 
used for rattles, the perforated holes being made for the 
purpose of passing thongs through to secure t*he upper and 
lower shells together, and possibly also of attaching a handle, 
yet the question presents itself, might they not also have 
been the emblem or totem of the tribe? The Lenni Lenape, 
if I am not in error, even after their subjugation by the 
Six Nations, claimed to be proprietaries of a portion of the 
Susquehanna Valley, extending nearly if not quite to Tioga, 
and one of its tribes was a turtle tribe. Five, at least, of 
the Six Nations (as to the Tuscaroras, I am not prepared to 
speak) had each a turtle tribe [clan], and that they claimed 
to be proprietaries of Tioga is evinced by the fact that it 
was included in their sale to the Susquehanna Company in 

1754" (P- 58.) 

"In the earth immediately north of the skeleton — and 
whether a part of the grave was impossible to decide — was 
found a great quantity of red ochre, fragments of a shell 
gorget, a broken bone comb, remnants of small shell beads, 
which rapidly disintegrated upon exposure, and a very rude 
arrow point." * * * (p. 59.) 

In speaking of the seventh grave opened, Dr. Wright 
says : "The only thing found in this grave was the copper 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



5 



or bronze bracelet which is herewith submitted for your 
examination." (p. 65.) 

INDIAN RATTLES. 

F. W. Hodge, in his "Handbook of American Indians," 
Volume II, advance sheets kindly loaned to the writer, will 
give the following description of rattles: "An instrument 
for producing rythmic sound, used by all Indian Tribes, 
except some of the Eskemo. It was generally regarded as 
a sacred object, not to be brought forth on ordinary oc- 
casions, but confined to rituals, religious feasts, shamanistic 
performances, etc. This character is emphasized in the sign 
language of the Plains, where the sign for rattle is the 
basis of all those indicating what is sacred. Early in the 
1 6th Century Estewan, the negro companion of Cabeza de 
Vaca, traversed with perfect immunity great stretches of 
country occupied by numerous different tribes, bearing a 
cross in one hand and a rattle in the other. 

"Rattles may be divided into two general classes, those 
in which objects of approximately equal size are struck to- 
gether, and those in which small objects, such as pebbles, 
quartz crystals or seeds are enclosed in a hollow receptacle. 
The first embraces rattles made of animal hoofs or dew- 
claws, bird beaks, shells, etc. * * * 

"The second type of rattles was made of a gourd, of the 
entire shell of a tortoise, of pieces of raw hide sewed to- 
gether, or, on the Northwest Coast, of wood. It was usually 
decoi-ated with painting, carvings or feathers and pendants, 
very often having a symbolic meaning. The performer, be- 
sides shaking these rattles with his hand, sometimes struck 
them against an object. Women of Muskhogean tribes fas- 
tened several tortoise shell rattles to each leg, where they 
were concealed by their clothing." 

These advance sheets of Volume II were sent to writer 
from Washington in reply to letter written to Prof. W. H. 
Holmes, asking for data about Indian rattles and totems. 



6 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



Captain John Smith says : "For their Musicke they use a 
thicke Cane on which they pipe as on a Recorder. For 
their warres they have a great deepe platter of wood * * 
* * covered with a skin * * that they may beat upon it as 
upon a drumme, but their chief instruments are Rattles 
made of small gourds or Pompeon [pumpkin] shells. Of 
these they have Base, Tenor, Counter Tenor, Meane and 
Treble. These mingled with their voyces sometimes twenty 
or thirtie together, made such a terrible noise as would rather 
affright than delight any man." (v. True Travels, Vol. I, p. 
136, Richmond reprint, 18 19.) 

John Bertram speaks of the Southern Indians being all 
fond of music and dancing, their music being both vocal 
and instrumental. Among their musical instruments he 
enumerates the tambour, the rattle gourd, and a kind of 
flute made of the joint of a reed or a deer's tibia. He says 
the flute made "a hideous, melancholy discord," while the 
tambour and rattle, accompanied by sweet, low voices, 
pleased him. The gourd rattles contained corn, beans, or 
small pebbles, and were shaken by the hand or were struck 
against the ornamental posts which marked the dancing 
ring, (v "Travels, Etc.," London, 1792, p. 502.) 

Brickell mentions the shells of terrapins as being fastened 
to the ankles or suspended from the waist-belts of dancers 
which contained small stones or beans, so that, with every 
motion of the body, they gave forth a rattling sound, 
(v Brickell's "Natural History of North Carolina," Dublin, 
1737.) 

Adair, in speaking of rattles as used among the American 
Indians, says they were made of shells of the land tortoise, 
or of conchs from which the interior had been removed, 
and in which pebbles, beans, or beads had been placed. These, 
by means of deer skin thongs, were fastened to the legs, 
and in the act of dancing produced a crude jingling music, 
(v "History of the American Indians," London, 1775.) 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



7 



J. Owen Dorsey, in the 3rd Annual Report of the Bureau 
of American Ethnology, pp. 277 and 278, gives a full de- 
scription of "The Calumet or Pipe Dance" among the 
Omahas. He illustrates the two gourd rattles used to make 
the music for this dance. The calumet dance was the cere- 
monial used in the adoption of a brother among the Omahas. 

In the 13th Annual Report he describes five kinds of rat- 
tles used among the Omahas, none of which, however, were 
made from turtle shells. 

W. J. Hoffman, in the 7th Annual Report, p. 191, etc., de- 
scribes two kinds of rattles which are used in the "Grand 
Medicine Dance" of the O jib ways. One kind is made of a 
cylindrical tin box with a handle attached, the other of a 
gourd. Corn or seeds are used in them to produce the rat- 
tling sound. 

J. W. Fewkes, in the 22nd Annual Report, p. 91, etc., de- 
scribes and illustrates a sea shell rattle, and also one made of 
a gourd, found in Pueblo ruins of Colorado. He mentions 
the latter type as being in use at the present time among the 
Pueblo Indians. 

Miss Alice C. Fletcher, in 22nd Annual Report, describes 
and illustrates a pair of decorated gourd rattles used in 
"The Haka," a Pawnee ceremonial. She describes these 
rattles as typifying the two sexes, and thus all mankind. 

A number of writers on the subject of musical instru- 
ments of the Indians, describe and figure the rattles as being 
used among them in pairs. This may indicate a more gen- 
eral recognition of the sexes, as described by Miss Fletcher, 
than has been generally apprehended. 

Some of the descriptions of rattles given are almost iden- 
tical with those under discussion, but all of them were in 
use in parts of the country somewhat removed from the 
locality in which the specimens owned by our Society were 
found. 

From the best information the writer has been able to 



8 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



obtain, the two turtle shells described in this paper are prob- 
ably those of a male and a female. If that be true, the turtle 
rattles would typify the sexes in a more real manner than 
would be the case in the symbolism of a decorated gourd or 
shell, the sex being a natural and inherent quality in the 
objects themselves. 

We now come nearer home, and it seems almost certain 
that we can locate the former owners of the two tortoise 
shell rattles which we have under discussion, and also de- 
scribe the use that was made of them. 

Morgan, in his "League of the Iroquois," 1904, Vol. I, 
48, gives us the following description of the territory occu- 
pied by the Iroquois: 

THE PEOPLE OF THE LONG HOUSE. 

"After the formation of the League, the Iroquois called 
themselves the Ho-de-sau-nee, which signifies The People 
of the Long House; it grew out of the circumstance that 
they likened their confederacy to a long house, having parti- 
tions and separate fires, after their ancient method of build- 
ing houses, within which the several nations were sheltered 
under a common roof. Among themselves they never had 
any other name. The various names given to them at dif- 
ferent periods were entirely accidental, none of them being 
designations by which they ever recognized themselves. 

"The Long House was not only the mark of society of the 
grade to which the Iroquois has raised themselves. It was 
in itself the perfect similitude of the Iroquois social and 
political organization. To an Iroquois the League was not 
like a long house. It was a long house, extending from the 
Hudson to the Genesee, in which, around five fires, five 
tribes gathered. The Mohawk, Wolf Clan, kept the eastern 
door, the Seneca Wolves, the western. At each fire the 
sachems, like pillars, upheld the roof, the chiefs were the 
braces that fortified the structure." 

The Long House, or territory occupied by the Iroquois, 



I 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



9 



extended, as has been mentioned, from the Hudson River 
on the east to the Genesee River on the west, and from the 
St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario on the north, to 
about the present boundary line between Pennsylvania and 
New York States on the south, extending into Pennsylvania 
in a small point to the confluence of the Chemung River with 
the Susquehanna River at Athens, Pa., covering almost the 
entire country now within the boundaries of New York 
State. (See Map, Morgan, Vol. I, p. 48.) 

At Athens (or Ta-yo-ga) at least six principal trails con- 
verged, one from Genesee and Niagara Falls on the west, 
one from Seneca Lake and one from Cayuga Lake on the 
north, two from Schenectady, Albany and the Hudson River 
region on the east and northeast, and a principal trail up 
the Susquehanna River from the interior of what is now 
Pennsylvania, and all the country to Chesapeake Bay on the 
southward. 

Ta-yo-ga (or Tioga) has been called the southern door 
of the Long House, and was a place of considerable im- 
portance in the Indian days. It seems to have been the most 
southerly point of land embraced within the Iroquois coun- 
try, proper. 

In enumerating the dances of the New York Indians on 
ceremonial occasions, dancing being a part of almost all such 
meetings, Morgan gives us the following description (p. 
268), of 

THE GREAT FEATHER DANCE. 

"Second in the public estimation, but first intrinsically, 
stood the great Feather Dance, sometimes called the Re- 
ligious Dance, because it was specially consecrated to the 
Great Spirit. The invention, or at least the introduction of 
this dance, is ascribed to the first To-do-da-ho, at the period 
of the formation of the League. In its Iroquois origin they 
all concur. It was performed by a select band, ranging 
from fifteen to thirty in full costume, and was chiefly used 



10 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



at their religious festivals, although it was one of the prom- 
inent dances on all great occasions in Indian life. This 
dance was the most splendid, graceful and remarkable in 
the whole collection, requiring greater power of endurance, 
suppleness and flexibility of person and gracefulness of de- 
portment than either of the others. The saltandi ars, or 
dancing art, found, in the Feather Dance, its highest achieve- 
ment, at least, in the Indian family, and it may be questioned 
whether a corresponding figure can be found among those 
which are used in refined communities, which will compare 
with it in those particulars which make up a spirited and 
graceful dance. 

"The music was furnished by two singers, seated in the 
centre of the room, each having a turtle shell rattle, of the 
kind represented in the figure. It consisted of a series of 
songs or measured verses, which required about two minutes 
each for their recitation. They were all religious songs, 
some of them in praise of the Great Spirit, some in praise of 
various objects in nature which ministered to their wants, 
others in the nature of thanksgiving to Ha-wen-ne-yu, or 
supplications for his continued protection. The rattles were 
used to mark time and as an accompaniment to the songs. 
To make this rattle they remove the animal from the shell, 
and after drying it they place within it a handful of flint 
corn, and then sew up the skin which is left attached to the 
shell. The neck of the turtle is then stretched over a wooden 
handle (p. 269). In using them they were struck upon the 
seat as often as twice or thrice in a second, the song and the 
step of the dancers keeping time, notwithstanding the rapid- 
ity of the beat. 

"The band arrayed themselves in their costumes in an 
adjacent lodge, came into the Council-house, and opened in 
all respects as in the case last described. Instead of group- 
ing, however, within the area of a circle, they ranged them- 
selves in file, and danced slowly around the Council-house 
in an elliptical line. 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



I I 



"When the music ceased the dance was suspended and 
the party walked in column to the beat of the rattles. After 
an interval of about two minutes, the rattles quickened the 
time, the singers commenced another song, and the warriors, 
at the same instant, the dance. The leader standing at the 
head of the column, opened, followed by those behind. As 
they advanced slowly around the room in the dance, they 
gestured with their arms, and placed their bodies in a great 
variety of positions, but, unlike the practice in the war 
dance, always keeping their forms erect. None of the atti- 
tudes in this dance were those of the violent passions, but 
rather mild and gentle feelings, consequently, there were 
no distortions, either of the countenances or the body; but 
all their movements and positions were extremely graceful, 
dignified and imposing. The step has the same peculiarities 
as that in the dance last described, but yet is quite distinct 
from it. Each foot in succession is raised from two to eight 
inches from the floor, and the heel is then brought down 
with great force as frequently as the beat of the rattles. 
Frequently one heel is brought down twice or three times 
before it alternates with the other. This will convey an im- 
pression of the surprising activity of this dance, in which 
every muscle of the body appears to be strung to its highest 
degree of tension. The concussion of the foot upon the 
floor serves the double purpose of shaking the rattles and 
bells, which form a part of the costume, and adding to the 
noise and animation of the dance. 

"The dancers were usually nude down to the waist, with 
the exception of the ornaments upon their arms and necks, 
thus exposing their well formed chests, finely rounded arms, 
and their smooth, evenly colored skins, of a clear and bril- 
liant copper color. This exposure of their person, not in any 
sense displeasing, contributed materially to the beauty of 
the costume, and gave a striking expression to the figure of 
the dancer. Such was the physical exertion put forth in this 
dance that before it closed the vapor of perspiration steamed 



12 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



up, like smoke, from their uncovered backs. No better evi- 
dence than this need be given that it was a dance full of 
earnestness and enthusiasm. One of their aims was to test 
each other's powers of endurance. It not unfrequently hap- 
pened that a part of the original number yielded from ex- 
haustion before the dance was ended. Nothing but practice 
superadded to flexibility of person and great muscular 
strength, would enable even an Indian to perform this dance. 
When the popular applause was gained by one of the band 
for spirited or graceful dancing, he was called out to stand 
at the head of the column and lead the party. In this way 
several changes of leaders occurred before the final con- 
clusion of the figure. In this dance the women participated, 
if they were disposed. They wore, however, their ordinary 
apparel, and entered by themselves at the foot of the column. 
The female step is entirely unlike the one described. They 
moved sideways in this figure, simply raising themselves al- 
ternately upon each foot from heel to toe, and then bringing 
the heel down upon the floor, at each beat of the rattle, keep- 
ing pace with the slowly advancing column. With the fe- 
males, dancing was a quiet, and not ungraceful amusement. 

"As a scene, its whole effect was much increased by the 
arrangement of the dancers into columns. In this long array 
of costumes the peculiar features of each were brought 
more distinctly into view, and by keeping the elliptical 
area, around which they moved, entirely free from the 
pressing throng of Indian spectators, a better opportunity 
was afforded all to witness the performance. To one who 
has never seen this dance, it would be extremely difficult to 
convey any notion of its surprising activity, and its inspiring 
influence upon the spectators. Requiring an almost con- 
tinuous exertion, it is truly a marvelous performance." 

For purposes of comparison, and as an indication that 
the Europeans were not unversed in the practice of the 
terpsichorean art, a description by Lord Byron is here intro- 
duced of a "dance" given by the officers of the British army 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



13 



at Brussels the night before the battle of Waterloo, and 
about thirty-nine years after General Sullivan had taken 
his army into the heart of the Iroquois country and balanced 
the account with the "Six Nations" for the part they took 
in "The Wyoming Massacre" : 

"There was a sound of revelry by night, 

And Belgium's capital had gathered then 
Her beauty and her chivalry ; and bright 

The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men ; 
A thousand hearts beat happily ; and when 

Music arose, with its voluptuous swell, 
Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again, 

And all went merry as a marriage-bell. 

But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell ! 

Did ye not hear it ? No ; 'twas but the wind, 
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street: 

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined, 

No sleep till morn when youth and pleasure meet 
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet!" 

THE TURTLE SHELLS. 

There were two turtle shells found in the graves opened 
by Messrs. Wright and Wadhams at Athens, only the larger 
of which is shown in the illustration. 

They are both shells of the land turtle (or tortoise), but 
may be of different varieties, as they differ somewhat from 
each other in shape and markings on the back, or they may 
be those of a male and a female. 

The top shell, or carapax, of the larger specimen is 5! 
inches long by 4} inches broad ; the bottom shell, or plastron, 
being 5J inches long by inches broad. There is a marked 
difference between the length and the breadth in both the 
top and bottom shells in this specimen. 

The smaller specimen is nearly circular, the top has more 
of an arched or dome like shape than the larger specimen, 



i 4 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



and measures 5 inches long by 4f inches broad, the bottom 
shell being 5 inches long by inches broad. 

Both of the specimens are in an excellent state of preser- 
vation. The small pebbles which were inside the shells are 
shown on the bottom of the illustration. The illustrations are 
slightly over one-half the natural size. (Illustration No. 1.) 

THE BONE COMB. 

In his article in Bulletin No. 50, New York State Museum, 
p. 284, on the "Horn and Bone Implements of the New 
York Indians." the Rev. William M. Beauchamp says : "The 
Indian use of bone combs seems not very old, and yet it is 
prehistoric in a sense. Most of those found are of the 17th 
Century, but some seem a few years earlier, suggesting a 
knowledge of Europeans without direct contact. The early 
ones are very simple in design, and with few but strong and 
large teeth. They are almost entirely confined to Iroquois 
sites, or those classed with them. 

"The Iroquois were not fond of working in stone, though 
they did this well, but long maintained their liking for bone 
and horn. * * * They are usually plain, but early decora- 
tion sometimes occurs. The smoothness of the work is often 
surprising, and the lustre may have come from the absorp- 
tion of fat." 

The bone comb found in the grave at Athens is J of an 
inch wide, about -J of an inch thick, and if inches long to 
the point where the teeth begin. The teeth are all broken 
off, so it is not possible to give the entire length as it was 
when in a perfect state. It had four teeth which were cut 
out with a stone tool, as is seen by the manner in which 
the teeth join the solid part of the comb. It is made in 
the same manner as Nos. 196, 199 and 200, shown in the 
illustration of Iroquois specimens, which were made with 
stone tools. (Illustration No. 2.) 




No. 2. Indian Bone Combs (reduced one-fifth). 

(Beauc/iavip. Bull 50. N. Y. State Museum ) 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



15 



In a letter to the writer, of October 20, 1908, Rev. Wil- 
liam M. Beauchamp says : "The bone combs are most fre- 
quent in New York, and are all, so far as I know, Iroquois. 
A few are in a way prehistoric. Cartier gave away combs at 
Hochelaga, and this seems the origin of the earlier ones. 
They tried to imitate them with stone implements, and the 
result was a rude 4 or 5 toothed article. About half a dozen 
have been found in Jefferson and Onondaga Counties on 
early Iroquois sites. When they got saws they made them 
more elaborate. * * * Not one has been found that is 400 
years old. Perhaps half a dozen that reach 300, while they 
are rather frequent after 1630, but mostly 40 years later. 
Of course, I don't know the form of yours, but they were 
much used at the time the Iroquois were sending war-par- 
ties down the Susquehanna against the Andastes. If simple, 
it would be earlier. * * * As to date, again, if made with 
stone tools, and with few teeth, call it about A. D. 1600. If 
with many teeth, 1630 to 1700. The Mohawks first used the 
many toothed combs, the Cayugas and Senecas last of all. 
The Onondagas and Oneidas seem to have used the later 
forms but little." 

The bone comb owned by our Society is in a rather marred 
state, owing to lapse of time and exposure to conditions un- 
favorable for its preservation. (Illustration No. 3.) 

THE COPPER COIL. 

The other article in which we are interested in this paper 
consists of a piece of coiled copper, which appears to be 
made of a solid copper wire. A close examination of it, 
however, shows that it was first made into a thin, narrow 
strip, and then wrapped over so as to give it the appearance 
of being solid wire. If straightened out it would be I2§ 
inches long. It is about -§ inch thick and weighs somewhat 
less than \ an ounce. The coil is about if inches in diam- 
eter, and is carried around the circle three times. It is con- 
siderably oxidized, and is now of a greenish color. It was 



1 6 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



found in the seventh grave opened by Messrs. Wright and 
Wadhams. (Illustration No. 4.) 

Dr. Wright describes this as a bracelet, but, from its 
shape, it would seem not to be well adapted for wearing on 
the arm; it was, however, doubtless worn in some manner 
for personal adornment. Because of the rare cases in 
which copper implements or ornaments have been found, it 
would seem that they were little known or used by the In- 
dians of this locality. The Wyoming Historical and Geo- 
logical Society has a fine copper spear point, which was 
found on the Kingston Flats opposite Wilkes-Barre, which 
is the only article of copper of Indian manufacture found 
in Wyoming Valley, so far as known. 

Lewis H. Morgan says : "Metallic implements were un- 
known among them [the Iroquois], as they had not the use 
of metals." Later researches have shown, however, that 
while copper implements were very rare in the Iroquois 
country, a number of specimens have been found, proving 
that they had some knowledge of copper, (v. Bull. 55, N. Y. 
State Museum.) 

Col. C. C. Jones ("Antiquities of the Southern Indians") 
says: "No implements of iron or bronze existed at this 
early period, and copper was used only to a limited extent. 
In its treatment, that material was regarded rather in the 
light of a malleable stone than as a metal. Its employment 
was confined almost exclusively to the manufacture of orna- 
mental axes, gorgets, pendants and spindles or points for 
piercing pearls." (p. 47.) 

Copper was procured in a pure state from the Lake Su- 
perior region, and hammered out cold into the desired shape. 
Its use among the Southern Indians was also extremely 
rare, and doubt is expressed whether such specimens as 
were found among them were made by themselves, the 
probability being that they were procured by barter from 
the region of Lake Superior. 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



[7 



From the rarity of copper implements, as noted by many 
writers, this piece of coiled copper becomes an unusually 
interesting specimen, especially as the conditions under 
which, and the exact locality where it was found, are so 
completely authenticated by Messrs. Wright and Wadhams. 

This case is another illustration of the prime importance 
of having an exact record made of the locality in which im- 
plements were found, with any other circumstances con- 
nected with them, otherwise, for the purposes of study they 
have lost their identity and value and are only articles of 
curiosity. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

After a careful examination of the implements which are 
discussed in this paper, and of the literature bearing on the 
subject, the writer is led to believe that the following are 
correct conclusions about them : 

First. That they were owned and used by the Iroquois 
Indians; (a) because the locality where they were found 
lies within the boundaries of the Iroquois country, proper; 
(b) because the bone comb, as described by Rev. William 
M. Beauchamp, an eminent authority on the subject, was 
distinctively an Iroquois manufacture; (c) and because the 
writer does not know of a single bone implement of this 
character having been found in the Wyoming Valley or 
along the lower reaches of the Susquehanna River, either 
from hearsay or by having seen such a specimen. 

Second. That the turtle shell rattles were used by the 
Iroquois on ceremonial occasions, and very probably these 
specimens were used by them in their "Great Feather 
Dance," their most important religious ceremonial, as fully 
described in this paper from Lewis H. Morgan. 

Third. That the bodies with which the two rattles were 
found were very probably those of two men who had held 
the office of making the music or beating time for the dances, 



IS 



TURTLE SHELL RATTLES. 



and whose musical instruments were interred with their 
bodies. 

Fourth. That the coiled copper object was of Indian man- 
ufacture, made from a piece of pure native copper, without 
the aid of heat, and was an article of personal adornment. 
It also gives evidence of some promptings of an esthetic 
taste among these people. 

Fifth. That the bone comb is of the earlier period of the 
manufacture of these articles among the Indians, was made 
with stone cutting tools, probably in the first half of the 
17th Century, and was worn by the women in dressing and 
adorning their hair, copying after the white women in this 
particular. 



AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. 

"Proceedings and Collections" of Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. 
Vol. II. 

Hand Book of the American Indians. Vol. II. 
"True Travels, etc." Capt. John Smith. 
"Travels, etc." John Bartram. 
"Natural History of North Carolina." Brickell. 
"History of American Indians." Adair. 

3rd, 7th and 22nd Reports of Bureau of American Ethnology. 
"League of the Iroquois." Lewis H. Morgan. 
"Antiquities of Southern Indians." Col. C. C. Jones. 
Bulletins Nos. 50 and 55 N. Y. State Museum. Beauchamp. 
"Conspiracy of Pontiac." Parkman. 



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